Emergency Letter

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20410-5000

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

March 15, 2010

Mr. Ross A. Rutledge

OMB Desk Officer

Office of Management and Budget

New Executive Office Building

Washington, DC 20503

Dear Mr. Rutledge:

The Department is seeking emergency review of the Paperwork Reduction Act requirements for a revision to a collection which supports the reporting for Public Housing Capital Fund, Assisted Housing Stability and Energy and Green Retrofit Investments, Community Development Block Grants, Indian Community Development Block Grant, Program, Native American Housing Block Grants, Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grants, Tax Credit Assistance Program and Lead Hazard Control American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“Recovery Act”) grant programs. The Notice of Paperwork Submission (copy enclosed), proposed for immediate Federal Register publication, explains the burden of the revised collection requirements.

In compliance with the requirements of 5 CFR 1320.13, this letter requests emergency processing within 7 days from the date of this letter. This request for emergency processing is essential because of the urgency of the Recovery Act reporting requirements. It is imperative that HUD demonstrate that Recovery Act funding was appropriately spent on HUD identified Core Activities: 1) providing new or rehabilitated housing and 2) improving energy efficiency of HUD stock.

This revision provides essential accuracy improvements for energy efficiency data, and also provides for collection of information on multiple funding sources. By collecting this information we will be able to report to Congress and to the Public the total number of housing units rehabilitated and developed by using Recovery Act funds and also provide the energy efficiency measures that was provided when rehabilitating or developing housing units. The energy efficiency information will be analyzed to determine the energy savings that resulted from the adoption of energy efficiency measures when rehabilitating or developing new housing units.

Section 1512 of the Recovery Act details the reporting requirements for the recipients of Recovery Act funding. Recipients are to report on the obligation and expenditure of Recovery Act funds, the projects on which those funds have been obligated and expended, an evaluation of the completion status of projects, and the number of jobs created and retained by the project.

The shortened processing period that we are requesting will help facilitate the prompt reporting of information required by the Recovery Act.

Thank you for your consideration and assistance.

Sincerely,

Peter Grace

Director, Office of Strategic Planning and Management